1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and systems for the distillation and purification of liquids, and particularly to a small scale solar-powered distillation system suited particularly for the distillation of seawater to provide fresh water therefrom.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fresh water is a critical need in many parts of the world. Accordingly, a number of different methods have been developed in the past for processing seawater or other contaminated water that is not portable to provide fresh water. Settling and filtration serve to remove relatively large impurities. Filtration is also capable of removing smaller contaminants down to the size of bacteria, and perhaps even smaller particulates in certain cases. However, filtration systems capable of removing contaminants down to ionic size are quite costly, both in terms of manufacture and in maintenance as well. The very fine filters required for such operations require relatively high pressures for the reverse osmosis process to work, thus further increasing the costs of operation due to the power required. Periodic cleaning of the filtration elements is also required, adding further to the cost of operation.
An alternative means of water purification is distillation. Distillation works well in the removal of virtually all impurities from water. Distillation is used in many areas for the desalination of seawater. However, most distillation processes require considerable heat to produce sufficient evaporation. Most such processes involve heating the water to boiling in order to accelerate the evaporation process. This is particularly true of large-scale distilling operations. The requirement for such a large amount of heat is relatively costly. The evaporated water also leaves behind a residue (salt, etc.), that must be removed from time to time in order to retain reasonable operating efficiency.
As a result, the use of passive sources of energy (e.g., solar energy) has been developed to produce the required heat for evaporation. Additional apparatus is generally required to concentrate the solar energy in order to produce the required heat, but this can still be more economical than other water purification principles, particularly in smaller scale operations. In any event, the salt or other residue must still be cleaned occasionally from these devices in order to provide the required efficiency of operation.
An example of such a solar distillation system is found in Spanish Patent No. 1,072,040, published on May 11, 2010. No English abstract is provided, but the single drawing Figure illustrates an alembic for distilling sea water or the like. The alembic includes electrical heating elements in the base thereof with a series of magnifying lenses in one side of the device and a mirror in the opposite side, with the combination of magnified and reflected solar energy and electrical heating producing the distillation effect.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a solar-powered distillation system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.